Communists and Fascists Clash

Manawatu Times, Volume LIX, Issue 7486, 9 June 1934, Page 7

Communists and Fascists Clash

Violent Disturbances is London ( WOMAN AND ELEVEN MEN ARRESTED United Press Association —By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. Received Friday, 7.45 p.m. LONDON, June 8. London has seen nothing for years comparable to the violent disturbances, resulting in the arrest of one woman and 11 men, marking a conflict between Fascists and Communists when Sir Oswald Mosley addressed a crowd at a demonstration of British Union Fascists at Olympia. The struggle necessitated the presence of 200 foot police and squads of mounted men with drawn staves. On tlie arrival of a procession, 100 Communists, carrying a red banner, tried to smash the Fascist ranks outside. resulting in a skirmish, and although it was quelled, it broke out elsewhere, while a stormy meeting proceeded inside, where people in every walk of life, including some in evening dress, were congregated. Sir Oswald Mosley, wearing a black shirt, was frequently interrupted by yells and cat-calls, which led to hand-to-hand fights and the ejection of the combatants, during which chairs were smashed. One heckler was stripped naked and hurled into the street, where razor blades flashed and stinkbombs were thrown’. The last half-hour of the meeting was comparatively quiet, enabling Sir Oswald Mosley to inveigh, against Moscow hirelings. The Fascists departed on foot and marched in group# under a police escort.